The Heart of a Champion, the Mind of an Accountant
In elementary school, some might remember report cards with notes like: “talks too much in class,” or “not working up to their ability.” Amy Garman admits her report card note could have read, “very competitive, but not coordinated.” She was interested in sports and determined to play something, so she and her dad worked on and practiced various things, but nothing stuck. Then one day when she was 10 years old, she had to run a mile in P.E. She dreaded it and complained to her dad. His advice set her up for a future full of record-breaking achievement, personal glory, ribbons, trophies, world travel, and scholarships. He told her to pace herself and control the urge to run her fastest in an effort to come in first, because she would not be able to sprint a mile. She listened to her dad and beat everyone in her class except for one boy. This was the day she learned a new way to win. It also taught her an early lesson in pragmatics, something from which she would benefit as an accounting professional.
She knew she had found something she was good at, and slowly began entering races. When she was 12, she ran at an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) cross country race and made the team that competed at the AAU cross country national meet. Then in 7th grade, she ran track. She was hooked.
In high school, she ran the 3200m, 1600m, and 800m in track and also ran on the cross country team. She had found her niche, winning 13 state titles while at Riley County High School, and setting the state record for the mile (4:44:09) while competing at the exclusive Golden State Athletic Conference Track and Field Championship in California. After her senior year cross country season, Amy ran at the Midwest Cross Country Championships in Wisconsin. This brutal outdoor race took place annually over Thanksgiving weekend and determined who would qualify for the Footlocker Cross Country Championship in Florida. After trying for several years without success, this time, she qualified. The national meet in Florida allowed only 32 athletes, and the top 15 were designated All-American. She was in the top 15, so she added 1998 Foot Locker Cross Country All-American to her list of accomplishments.
Amy originally wanted to go somewhere far away from home for college, and was recruited by other D1 schools, visiting both Penn State and Missouri. But when she visited K-State, she felt she really fit in and “clicked” with her teammates, and she liked Coach Randy Cole’s no-nonsense approach. During her visit she met with Professor Jeff Katz and his wife, Julie, who became her academic advisor. Their enthusiasm about the College of Business helped make Amy’s decision to study accounting easy.
She continued to have success, now running as a Wildcat majoring in accounting. On the cross country team, she ran the 5k and 6k, the 800m, 1000m, mile, and 3000m during 
indoor track, and the 1500m and 5000m during the outdoor track season. She competed at every national meet during her eligibility except for her sophomore year during outdoor track and earned 12 All-American designations (four years in cross country, five times during indoor track, and three times during outdoor track). She still holds the school record in the mile and 3000m for indoor track, and the school record for the 1500m for outdoor track. She also learned some very important life lessons while running for K-State. “My sophomore year in college, I trained too hard and got overtired,” said Garman. “It was frustrating because I was training so hard and my racing was still terrible, so I had to learn to recover and rest. I also had to learn to separate my self-worth from my running success.”
She was a professional runner for nine years after graduating from K-State in 2003. During that time, she moved to Boston and earned a master’s in accounting at Boston College in 2006. She continued to run professionally in Boston after completing her degree, and after she moved back to the Manhattan area in 2008.
She also competed in the U.S. Olympic trials in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Her highest finish was in 2008 when she placed 5th in the 1500m. By 2012, she knew it was time to hang up her spikes as a professional runner. The perks of frequent travel, having plenty of time to both train and rest, and the lifestyle of a professional athlete started to give way to a desire for a more stable, ordinary life that didn’t include being paid to run.
After the 2010 K-State vs. Nebraska football game and thanks to a mutual friend, she reconnected in Aggieville with a guy she had met in college, her future husband, Gavin. Life soon started to change dramatically for Amy. “I had just turned 30 and I was starting to get injured a lot,” Garman reflects. “I had just gotten married and was ready to have more of a normal life. It was still hard to quit running because it had been such a big part of my life for so long, and I definitely went through a grieving process.” She knew she needed new objectives to work toward to help her overcome this challenge. “I had my son, took the CPA exam, and started a new job, so having new goals was helpful in making the transition.”
Her education has always been a priority for her, and she fondly recalls competing in math contests in grade school. Later she was a member of National Honor Society and was on the Student Athlete Advisory Council. “My first exposure to accounting was at K-State and I still remember how supportive my professors were and how excited they 
were about the program,” Garman said. “I really fell in love with accounting during my tax class, which is funny, because I ended up specializing in financial reporting. But, when we had tax issues at work, I was the point person.”
She worked as an accountant in Manhattan for nearly seven years before she found herself, yet again, ready for another challenge. So, she decided to work toward her PhD at the University of Kansas, which she earned in 2022. It was during this process that she was able to use one of the lessons she learned as an athlete, to keep working hard when things aren’t going her way. “It was overwhelming at times, particularly when the pandemic hit and I added homeschooling my kids to my daily schedule, but I just kept working my way through each day. It was important to me to be able to finish on time. I also had to remember the importance of rest, even off the track. I can be a bit of a bulldozer when I encounter an obstacle, so another important thing I learned is when to push through and when to set things aside for another day. This is a lesson that I’m still learning!”
She finds parallels between her life as a runner and her life as an accountant. “Both accounting and running require a lot of sacrifice and dedication,” said Garman. “Sports taught me to have dedication to activities in addition to academics, and that you cannot quit after a bad day. These qualities came in handy when working in accounting. In my accounting career, I frequently had to clean up and organize the financials. Running helped me build the endurance to get through big projects.”
Amy recently returned home to K-State where she is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Accounting. She plans to use her experiences as an athlete to help her students through difficult times. “I like to share my personal experiences with students to help encourage them. I always tell them that I didn’t truly understand accounting until I started working. I like to share that learning accounting is a longer process for some and it’s okay if it does not make sense right away.”
She was happy to see that some of her favorite things about the College of Business had not changed since she was a student. “I feel like the atmosphere at the College of Business is similar to when I was a student, she noted. “It’s very supportive and collaborative. I received so much support from the faculty when I was a student athlete and I’m excited to pay it forward. Working with college students is energizing. I love their enthusiasm and hard work, and I am excited to help them start to build their careers.”
She and her husband live just west of Manhattan and have two children, Gunnar, 9 and Sailor, 7. They all enjoy spending time with family who live nearby and keeping their children busy and active. “They are both competitive and love sports. It’s so fun to watch them get involved in activities they love,” she said. “Luckily, they inherited their coordination from their dad, so they are way better at sports than I was as a child!”
Amy is slowly getting back to running after surgery earlier this year. She runs for fun now, to destress and enjoy the experience. Despite the number of trophies, ribbons, medals, and plaques she has won, it’s easy for her to choose her greatest achievement. “The whole time I was running, I knew the thing that would mean the most to me was having a family, so I feel really lucky that I have the family I do. We love Manhattan and Kansas so much and we’re very happy that everything has worked out!”